Jazz

The brewers are in need of one more big bat, and they have the trading chips to do it. I think they would like to move sheets though, as his contract jumps from 6.5 to 11.5 in 2006. I could see a deal to a team such as Baltimore, or Texas could see a need for him, in a package for one of the players mentioned in this thread. A Sheets+Clark to the Yanks for Posada maybe?

If bradley can get his attitude straight under baker, and concentrate on being productive, then his bat alone will make a difference, add to that castillo and lowe, and the cubs come away looking alot better than we could of expected with most deals. I fear hendry will not sign giles after this trade though, and go after a "suitable veteran RF", such as hidalgo, and pass up the chance to go after a dunn.

how much would nomar stand to make in arbaration? If the sum is not to harsh, i wouldnt mind signing him to be a super utility player. He would split time at SS, 2B, LF, and even 3B. Keep him healthy, and maximize his starts. The depth would be incredible, if the players to fill those 4 positions were to be: Nomar, Furcal, Walker, Murton, Ramirez, FA bench OF, and Cedeno.

6 FA's If history is indicative of anything, it will tell us this will not happen, i think that 2-3 of the listed will sign, and those are Furcal, Howry, and Lofton. The rest of the team will be filled through trades IMO. Hendry will definately need to get creative, and start looking at the entire league and every trade possibility possible. I Think the way hendry handles this offseason will say alot about how he will handle this team in the long run. 1) will he control the team, or is Baker still control what players he acquires? 2) will he be aggresive enough, and forfeit big money on a maruqee player, or be creative and make another out of nowhere trade? 3) and what direction does he want this team to go in?

i really hope so, this was a blast last year.

Man, I didn't know they were from Chicago? course not, it is well known the Giles brothers hail from the SoCal shoreline, Brian from El Cajon, CA, and Marcus from SD.

Frontloaded contract works for me, makes it easier to resign our young studs in 07 and 08 4/48 2006: 15 mil 2007: 14 mil 2008: 10 mil 2009: 9 mil

Im sure that if Nomar and Cedeno are the starting infielders next year (which I would be alright with) that between them, and backing up Ramirez at 3rd, he could get well over 100 starts.

Maybe Hendry has a younger (possibly better) guy on his radar in a trade..... hopefully would be nice if he could pull off another Choi for Lee. Patterson for Burrell? Patterson for Hunter?

sign him, and designate him as the utility guy. With him on the team ALONG with say Walker/Cedeno and Nomar/Furcal. The bench will be ESPECIALLY strong. I love his versatility. get this guy hendry.

I think alot of this has to do with a couple things. One has been the management at the Pro level. Whens the last time a coach led this team to more than 1 playoff birth? Well you have to look back ALL the way to the last NL Pennant winning coach, Charlie Grimm (1933-1938, 1945-1949, 3 NL Pennants) And not just the manager, the whole coaching staff in general. I am very displeased with everyone on the staff and blame alot of 2005's mishaps on them. How many prospects have gone to ruins in recent years, or could not do anything for the cubs, either to being groomed, rushed, or just misused? I think if the cubs expect to have a strong youthful team relying on a core of certain players, then they need to be able to acquire or develop both positional, and pitching prospects at a much higher level. Even at 100 million dollars, you cannot sign star power players, or afford them if you have a team filled with 5 mil vets.

This is news to my ears I really didnt want the cubs to shell out the 8-12 mil it will take to get furcal, and for 4 years he will likely command, if anythign i hope this news makes Hendry rethink not resigning Nomar, and Walker. I would rather us just go with these 2 for our MIF, and have Cedeno back them both up

He would because: 1) The Phils need young, affordable pitching. 2) The Phils have to move salary and Abreu could be the one. No one will want Thome's contract and Ryan Howard can't play the OF. Moving Abreu in such a deal still doesn't solve what to do with Thome and Howard. My guess is the Phillies will say Abreu is available to someone who will give players and take Thome. A team like Boston or the Orioles might bite on such a deal. If the Phillies move a big contract, and it's not Thome, I'd look for Burrell to be moved instead. The Cubs have to act as a middle man to get Abreu and send Thome to an AL team. Thome's contract would be split among the three teams, with the Cubs giving up the most young talent and taking on the fewest Thome dollars. I'd rather not get into a Mike Hampton situation, but for Abreu, it might be worth it, I can only think of a few players I would have rather than Abreu right now. The Phillies have 77 million invested in only 3 players over the next 2 years (Burrell, Abreu, and Thome). No doubt about it, one of these three is going to be moved this season for the the phillies to have any breathing room this offseason. I put my money that 2 of them will be packaged together in a multiteam deal that will likely take a long time to get everybody happy with. That being said, if the cubs are looking to get into this as a middleman, and send thome to a AL team to be a DH, and get Abreu or Burrell in the process, they should be aware of the risks at hand. 1) What if Abreu's 2nd half numbers are an indication of a decline for 2006? 2) what if the prospects they send end up panning out more than expected, and the deal in a few years look like a complete steal for the Phillies 3) and what if Abreu's (and even thome's) contract make it difficult to resign Prior, Zambrano and some of our other young guys. Heres a deal that might work: Cubs get: Abreu, and Jason Michaels Cubs give: Harvey, Hill, Sing, Patterson, and Money (see below) Phillies get: Harvey, Hill, Chacon, and Patterson Phillies give: Abreu, Michaels, and Money Yankees get: Thome, Sing, and Money Yankees give: Chacon With the derpature of Williams, the Yanks need a DH, and Thome fits the role perfectly, his numbers could even increase without having to play defense. Him and Giambi would switch off DH and 1B, a cycle the Yanks are using currently with Giambi and Martinez. Money Transaction Cubs pay 3 mil of Thome Salary in 06' Phillies pay 3 mil of Thome Salary in 07' Cubs and Phils each pay 1.5 (3 mil combined) of Thome Salary in 08' Cubs are obliged to pay 16 mil in Abreu and Thome Contracts in 06' Cubs.....to pay 15 mil of Abreu Contract in 07' Cubs to pay 1.5 mil in Thome contract in 08' (Abreu has 16 mil option with 2 mil buyout) The prospect hit is big, but thats about what it would take to get these 2. The money isnt too hard, and with Abreu, and Michaels, we dont have to sign a OF in FA, then plug in Murton in LF, and Hairston to back up all of them, sign a true OF bench in FA.

same, he probably worked hard to get where he is at right now at this point in his life, (probably harder than some GM's do in their whole career) I wish him luck.

we need to trade for a BP arm, spending 6-8 million on one in FA is not the answer. Get one in a package deal like the Walker and Patterson for Hunter and Crain deals.

2 things 1. Getting the right deal for him: There are a couple ways that you can go about it. You can give up the farm for him, and the red sox would only pickup a little more than half of the his salary. You can also offer to take on most of the contract, and give mininal prospects. 2. Boston isnt necessarily aching him to trade him. Hes still the same manny that hes been for the past 3-4 years, and hes worth every penny. I think the wanting to be trading hype is just construed by the New England media at the trade deadline. Giles can give us about 75% of the production that Manny would give us at a smaller price, now i would be all for getting Manny if the circumstances would allow it, but Giles is the biggest Offensive threat to come into the FA market in the last 2 years, and we need to jump on this oppurtunity. Im drooling at what his home power splits would be at wrigley.

Hopefully Pie and Murton pan out well so that even if giles is underproducing 2-3 years into his contract, it wont hurt as badly.

hey theres that guy umm wats his name Jose Macias? nah, hed never resign back, someone else will throw big money at him :) my sentiments exactly tho, Brian Giles, best fit we can possibly get for this struggling offense.

Wouldnt suprise me that Kerry has a Pavano type season, he fits the mold pretty well, and it would be all the better for us if we expect to be playoff bound this year. food for thought, he might hit his peak in trade value if the above happens, and might bring in a good crop of prospects.

Traded Patterson for Greinke midseason in 1st year 6 years into franchise Greinke has 2 CY's and a WS MVP.

the coaching staff really needs to get overhauled. To think that they are worth more losses than wins makes me sick. Hopefully last year of dusty, I think we need to replace rothschild this year tho.

Well i think we should look at it this way. Lee's value could never possibly be higher, but for how long should we look to reep off his surge to the top? Id really like to see if he can duplicate his production next year ,or even close to it, because even though the number say it was, Lee looked more patient, and switched mechanics as was talked about with his long swing. Id look to trade him at the beginning of NEXT offseason, but we may be sorry if he sinks considerably this year. Its a tossup, but whats the FA crop look like next year? Edit: after looking at a resource for 2007 Free Agents, it looks pretty deep, but no real superstars (though that could change) C: Kendall, Schneider, Barrett 1B: Sweeney, Wilkerson, Clark, Hafner (Team Option) 2B: Giles 3B: C. Jones, Koskie SS: Guillen, Young, Izturis, Eckstein LF: Jenkins, Dunn, Byrnes CF: A. Jones, Bradley, Wels, Clark RF: Abreu (Team Option), Suzuki, Green, Kielty RH Starter: L. Hernandez, Vazquez, Clement, Colon, Garcia, Halladay, Benson, J. Wright, J. Fogg, V. Zambrano, C. Zambrano :(, Beckett, Arroyo, Oswalt, Carpenter (Team Option) LH Starter: Milton, R. Johnson, O. Perez, Sabathia, D. Davis Relievers: Marte (team option), Grybowksi, Linebrink,. Julio, Vizcaino, Benitez, Kolb, Jason Isringhausen (Team Option), Joe Nathan (Team Option), Managers :): Ron Gardenhire, Tony LaRussa, Joe Torre, John Gibbons, Bruce Bochy Looking at this I might want to hold back on signing Giles unless its for a short term deal. Maybe find an outfielder in a trade whos contract ends soon, and sign Pitching?

Lee for prospects would never happen. Not in chicago, and not with how Lee is right now. Only way you satisfy Chicago Sports Media, and the fans is by acquiring a big name OF like Abreu or Cabrera.

The more i think about it, the more i like the sound of trying to deal for Giles and Chipper. The Braves will probably ask for Walker, and one of our better pitching prospects, or an ML ready starter. Give them Williams and Mitre and see if theyll bite. I think the chance is also possible that Brian would put the cubs at the top of his list for suitors. Imagine this lineup 2B M Giles SS Cedeno 1B Lee RF B Giles 3B Ramirez LF Jones CF Pie/Hairston C Barrett

I would definately be for that deal but i think it would take another pitching prospect for the braves to go for it. I really would like Giles to get his OBP back to where it was a couple of years ago near .400, and i think he would be capable of that if he had a patient hitter like murton hitting right behind him. Also food for though, would marcus's presence here help at all in pursuit of the other giles brother?